“New Balance Seekers”

 

The German philosopher Georg Hegel maintained that progress in human thought invariably follows the path of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Every idea is first challenged by a counter-idea, until the common elements of these two finally find reconciliation in a third and grander idea.

 

While much of Hegel’s philosophy may be at odds with Torah ideology, this notion of his is not without parallel in Jewish thought and, I believe, it plays an important role in this week’s Torah portion.

 

There is a striking resemblance between the opening and closing sections of this week’s reading. The first section of Parshas Chukas is about “when a man shall die in the tent” (19:14), and the closing episode of Parshas Balak involves the slaying of two sinners “in the tent” (25:8).

 

But the similarity is deeper than that.

 

Parshas Chukas begins with the Parah Adumah (red hefer) purification ritual. Although the true meaning of this mitzvah is ultimately elusive, the Commentators do present symbolisms and lessons we can draw from it. The Sforno (19:2) shows a recurring theme in the Parah Adumah’s components. The wood from a mighty cedar tree symbolizes arrogance, the lowly hyssop, humility, and the crimson thread, sin (as red is always the symbol of sin). Thus the combination of these three in the Parah Adumah’s pyre teaches that either extreme – excessive pride or excessive humility — is a sin. Only the balance between the two is appropriate.

 

The sprinkling of the hefer’s ashes together with water further indicates that it is not ash (the ultimate symbol of fire’s devastation), nor water (the exact opposite force), but their combination that is sought. The recurring lesson of the Parah Adumah is thus: neither extreme is of value if not tempered by its opposite. Indeed, this is a central motif in Parshas Balak, as well. The Gemora (Brachos 7a) teaches us that there is a milisecond of Divine wrath every day. Balak knew how to calculate that moment, and he was going to use it to curse the Jewish People. The result of this could have been catastrophic. To foil his plan, the Ribbono Shel Olam refrained entirely from becoming angry during the days of Balak’s attempted curses. Some of the Commentators explain (I believe I first heard this insight in the name of Rav Are’le Belzer, but have seen similar explanations in the name of others since) that the function of the momentary Divine anger is to imbue the world with a sense of absolute justice and intolerance for what is wrong. Although for the most part we must be tolerant and patient in order to countenance what is incorrect, there is a need for some degree of absolute, unbending truth. The one moment of Hashem’s anger is to instill a small dose of absolute truth and intolerance for falsehood within Klal Yisroel.

 

Since G-d refrained from anger altogether during this time, this sense of truth was somewhat lacking from the world and there was a greater aura of love and acceptance, untempered by principled fairness. This is what led to the episode immediately following Balaam’s departure: And the [Jewish] People began to sin with the daughters of Moav (25:1). Kindness that is not kept in balance by a strong sense of propriety and boundaries leads to excessive closeness and, as it were, licentious behavior. (Compare Kedoshim 20:17, where an act of incest is described as “chessed.”)

 

It was therefore only through the act of Pinchas at the end of the parsha that balance was restored to the Jewish Nation. Pinchas, who on the one hand is described as Aharon HaKohen’s grandson – Aharon the great lover of peace – performs the courageous act of a zealot, showing total intolerance for immorality, and the proper balance between love and morality is restored.

 

The Rambam teaches us that in order to correct a negative behavior, we must compensate to the extreme and behave in the exact opposite way. But ultimately, of course, the goal is to return to the proper equilibrium (See Shemone Perakim, chapter 4). Humanity has historically had a hard time with balance. People tend to be either exceedingly pleasure-seeking or exceedingly austere, fanatically controlling or anarchistic. But as committed Jews and adherents to the Torah we have the imperative to seek to master our middos and find the ultimate balance. It is this synthesis that brings sanctity and blessing to our lives.

 

Shabbat Shalom!